Those who are questioning this will be labelled and touted as extremists. :)

Absolutely! Mufti Saheb SHOULD NOT have posted this but we have Briish Muslims who invited the same Mufti in UK and took him around as being in touch with reality of our times. Those who organised his tour (in UK) are more at fault then Mufti Saheb.

Because you are (as usual) focussing on an issue rather than thinking and analysing the full picture. Anyone who follows his Social Media presence will find many things which are appreciative and many which are questionable.

As a Maulana (in America) he is considered to be a conservative.

As a Maulana (in UK) he will confuse the masses and create doubts in the minds of people.

Thus inviting him to UK (as a Deobandi) will confuse people on many issues which (Alhumdolillah) British Deobandees abstain from (so far) in considerable numbers.

When he is introduced as “Sufi-Deobandi” in UK, it will loosen up the practise of many British Deobandees. And he was introduced as a “Sufi-Deobandi” upon the Sunnah in Britain and it was particularly stressed that he studied from a major British Deobandi Institution.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. Before inviting someone, it is critical to do research on the impact and run analysis on how it will play out in the future.

But you can put a smiley face and move on ahead…I reply to you as courtesy and don’t wish to get into a debate with you because it is futile….You have your views and I have mine and that’s fine.

Well Let's just say that I'm from Trajikistan but was raised with British Muslim principles, so I have a British mindset for now :p

It might be suitable for an American audience, even though I or you can't justify that with Quran, Sunnah or any acts of the pious predecessors.

I don't want to get into a debate with anyone either because the act in itself is agreed upon to be incorrect.

For you or anyone to say it's okay for Americans but not the Brit's than you already fall behind in your defence of this act (note, I didn't say "his act")

What's wrong is wrong and I don't care who the audience is.

Culture on one side and Islam on another side, that's how it should always be.

I just hope other Ulama from other nations don't start pleasing their cultural people. Can you imagine native Australians and their Aboriginal culture, can you imagine a Mufti doing the dance then justifying it by saying this is how things happen here. (Note, again, I'm not accusing anyone of doing such acts)Then some smart guy says, hey, this is okay in Australia, but British Muslim's are more sane :)

Nothing to do with that....Simply pointing out the fact that Mufti Sahib is a teacher at Qalam institute that teach middle class Americans in mixed gatherings and Mufti Sahib has posted photos of himself teaching these classes. And now he has posted a photo of the same Middleclass Americans presenting him a Birth Day cake.

In recent years there seems to have been in America the idea that we should not make Islam too strict and confining and that it has to presented with in the cultural norms of American society. Being Islam does not mean that you give up your identity and start acting and adopting Arab or Desi culture.

After all when Islam spread to places like India the Muslims there where not asked to give up there Cultural identity customs and traditions and their traditions from wedding celebrations and other things have a distinctive Indian flavour.

so therefore celebrating Birthdays, anniversaries, Thanks Giving is all part of American Culture and minor details...This is the prism in which they look at things and it has become the ethos at organisations like Qalam, Bayinnah, Al Maghrib, Zaytuna and other organisations.

I am sure I read a discussion on the topic of birthdays before, but I can't recall the exact details. I did find this quote interesting, someone can verify it:
￼

Quote:

Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi was asked about celebrating the birthdays of children, and he allowed it. Mufti Lajpuri also allowed that in fatawa rahimiyya.[/quote]

Asaghir the above should help you as it is dealing specifically with children :).

As for what is meant by celebrate, then mufti Muhammad ibn Adam asked this same question on his birthday:

Quote:

I was once thinking about writing on this in detail...

With all such occasions, people debate and argue about the ruling on celebration. However, I feel the term 'celebrate' is used and different things are meant by different people, and thus they keep arguing!

So what is meant by 'celebrating' one's birthday? Does celebrating mean:
1) smiling
2) fasting
3) thanking Allah by offering two Rak'at nafl
4) reading a book
5) being happy
6) jumping and rocking
7) listening to Nasheed
8) reciting some Qur'an
9) having a meal at home
10) going out for shopping
11) having a birthday cake
12) going on a holiday
13) buying yourself a new phone
14) dancing at a nightclub
15) going for a march outside your house.....

Obviously, the ruling on celebration will depend on what one means by 'celebrate'. Wallahu a'lam
[/quote]

The above was a comment the Mufti wrote under this post he posted on FB:

[quote]
Yesterday, the 3rd of January, was my birthday according to the Gregorian calendar (and not my real Islamic calendar birth date).

On one's birthday, mixed emotions are felt. On one hand, it is an occasion of happiness and thankfulness (shukr) - thanking Allah Most High for blessing one with x amount of years with health, wellbeing, family, etc... At the same time, it is an occasion of sadness and concern - seeing that you are now a year closer to your death.

As such, along with being happy, one's birthday should remind one of death and encourage one to change one's life for the better and start preparing for the eternal life of the hereafter.

Here is a fatwa written by the same Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam. note: this fatwa is no longer available on his website, and I do not know why it was removed.

[quote]
Answered by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
Principally, birthdays are not something that should be celebrated or to be happy about. When it is someone’s birthday, one year of his/her life has decreased, and not increased. As such, what intelligence is there in celebrating and showing happiness when a year has decreased in one’s life?
Before understanding the legal ruling with regards to birthday celebrations, it is worth remembering here that imitation of the unbelievers (Kuffar) is something that Islam strictly disapproves of.
In a Hadith recorded by Imam Abu Dawud (Allah have Mercy on him) and others, The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said:
“Whosoever imitates a nation is amongst them”. (Sunan Abu Dawud,)
It should be remembered here that not everything what the non-Muslims wear and do, is Haram and unlawful. Imitation, which is prohibited, is effected in one of the following two ways:
a) One does something with the intention of imitating the Kuffar, meaning one does so because one wants to be like a particular non-believer or non-believers.
b) Doing something that is unique and exclusive to the non-believers or it is part of their faith. This will also be considered imitation, thus Haram (unlawful). (See the Fatwa of Shaykh Mufti Taqi Usmani).
In light of the above, there are few situations with regards to the Shariah (legal) ruling on celebrating birthdays:
1)If it is celebrated by imitating the Kuffar in that all or some of the customs that are unique with the Kuffar are adopted, or acts that are unlawful in Shariah are committed, then there is no doubt in its impermissibility. The lighting of candles on a cake that number the years of one’s life and then blowing on them, playing of music, singing, extravagant and lavish spending, showing off, etc are all unlawful and forbidden practices. Thus, if birthdays are celebrated by adopting the above-mentioned customs, it will not be permissible.
2)If the above-mentioned evils are avoided, then there are two possibilities:
a) If one celebrates birthdays with the intention of imitating the Kuffar meaning one does so because one wants to be like the Kuffar, then, as stated previously, it will be considered imitating the Kuffar, thus unlawful.
b) If there is no intention of imitating the Kuffar (and also the above mentioned evils are avoided) then the ruling on celebrating birthdays will depend on whether it originated from the religious customs of the non-Muslims and it is part of their faith. (It can not be considered to be unique with the Kuffar, for celebrating birthdays has become a widespread phenomenon that is carried out in many different parts of the world). I am personally unaware of whether celebrating birthdays has a connection with the Christian faith or other wise, thus I am unable to give a decisive ruling.
However, I have mentioned the criterion of which the ruling will be based. If the origins of birthday celebrations are connected to a particular faith, then there is no doubt in its impermissibility. If, however, it has no connections with the faith of the non-Muslims, then (and Allah knows best) it seems that it would be permissible to celebrate it (provided the evils mentioned above are avoided).
3)If one thanks Allah and shows gratitude for being blessed with one more year of his life, thus expresses happiness and joy, then there is nothing wrong with that. (See: al-Fatawa al-Rahimiyya (urdu), 6/320).
And Allah knows best
Muhammad ibn Adam al-Kawthari
Darul Iftaa, Leicester, UK
www.daruliftaa.org

It used to be that culture was always viewed from within the framework and parameters set by Islam. Today there are certain quarters calling for Islam to be viewed and practised from within the parameters set by national culture.

They deceptively use the principle of Urf and statements like the one mentioned earlier in the thread:

“After all when Islam spread to places like India the Muslims there where not asked to give up there Cultural identity customs and traditions and their traditions from wedding celebrations and other things have a distinctive Indian flavour.”

But what about the many more cultural customs that were abandoned by Muslims in them countries when they adopted Islam? Have they forgotten how much the lives of sahaba changed when they became Muslims.

Not only that but most of the culture they are referring to in them countries is only culture adopted by non-practising Muslims, people who don’t even pray their salaah. And those that do, are islamically uneducated or are by and large chasing the world, up to all sorts. Just take a look at the difference between an Indian cultural wedding and Indian wedding done by a family upon the sunnah. It’s a world of difference.

So these deceptive quarters want us to take as our example these cultural Muslims, and follow them and become American cultural Muslims or British Cultural Muslims.

But this social engineering is a step by step process. First all the little things become normalised, then step by step it’s built upon towards total misguidance. We need to understand this process of normalisation Just like Barsisa the Monk. Read the story of Barisa.

As soon as each step is normalised, shaytaan guides towards the next step of misguidance, whilst the person thinks he is actually doing good.

And it’s not about halaal or haraam. The initial steps towards misguidance will probably be halaal, but they will most likely be unwise or vain. Vanity is very powerful in the early stages of misguidance.

Let’s take a brief look at some of the steps and ways of normalisation and misguidance Muslims are going through today (examples are just quick ones off the top of my head, and some examples may not be in the right steps obviously as these steps and examples are just to portray the picture, not an actual point of debate).

Step 1:

Let’s take the birthday cake that is posted to facebook for example. Let’s say the birthday cake, and celebrating birthdays in the western sense is permitted (for the sake of argument).

However it is still vanity, it’s useless temporary pleasure to have a birthday cake, posting it to facebook, showing to the world, probably hoping to get some likes and perhaps a few more followers.

But this type of vanity has now become normalised so people cannot see the harm in (hence that all to often heard statement “whats the harm?”).

One of the harms is that people have less time for the remembrance of Allah almighty and we travel further into misguidance.

Of course some one who thinks themselves clever and wise and who will probably be able to show a few letters after their name to justify their cleverness (Prof. Fulan ibn Fulan BSc (Hons ) PhD MSc + great up and coming shaikh with groundbreaking research that 1400 years of previous Islamic scholarship has so foolishly missed) will twist that and come out with something like “but there could be benefit it, it could guide someone because they will see that Muslims can have fun and be hippy happy Muslims”.

O.k. so without going into other examples, vanity and unwise moves – step one has really been noramalised amongst Muslims these days.

Step 2:

Now that most people are caught up in their vanity and don’t have time to think, we can start justifying stepping into more dangerous territory.

Stylish beards (hey we can’t look like the gruffalo, we’ve got to look smart to do dawah).

War on the niqaab (we’ve got to be able to smile to those non mahrams we pass in the street you know)

Nasheeds (it’s all vocals man, no musical instruments)

And when these things are well on the way to normalisation, let’s move onto step 2:

Step 3:

We don’t want to give all this up (things in step 2), so let’s justify it.

How to justify it?

“Ahh yes, this is our culture, we are American Muslims and British Muslims.”

Notice how the noun “Muslim” has to now be qualified by the adjective “British” or “American”.

There is a huge reason for this. It has a sub conscious effect in getting people to more readily agree adopting “Britishness” and “Americanism” - that is British culture and American culture.

If occasionally one needs to refer to nationality then sure, go ahead, say British Muslim or American Muslim, but it is hilarious how many people and organisations have to unnecessarily say it over and over again, unnecessarily emphasize it so much like it’s their mantra.

This mantra these days has nothing to do with identity and everything to do with how you want to define Islam and subject it to within the parameters of culture.

When Muslim went to Egypt were they so hell bent on going on about Misry Muslim, Misry Muslim, ohmmmm, Misry Muslim...

Or in Shaam, did you hear them constantly go on about Shami Muslim, Shami Muslim, ohm, ohm, Shami Muslim....

Or in Turkey, Turkish Muslim, Turkis......wait, we did hear it in turkey.

Yes towards the end of the Ottoman empire, The Young Turk movement that contributed a lot towards the destruction of the Ottoman empire really wanted to rid the Turks of the “backwards” Arab culture and replace it with Turkish culture.

So it started off slowly bit by bit, and ended with even the Adhaan had to be in Turkish and the end of the Ottomon empire and the instalment of Attaurk.

Many of the Donmeh were extremely influential in the Young Turk movement. Who were the Donmeh? They were apparent converts to Islam who also attained good academic positions so Muslims in Turkey looked up to them. And they used this influence to hasten the downfall of the Ottoman empire and promote the young Turks.

So it should be no surprise that today many of the people at the forefront of calling to this western cultural Islam are converts and academics – history repeating itself.

So now that step 3 is undergoing normalisation and people are happily referring to themselves as British Muslim and American Muslim, time to move onto step 4.

Step 3:

Now let’s justify even more things, why just leave it at British/American Muslim, let’s make it official and call it a British/American Islam.

Musical Instruments “Nasheeds”, mixed gender clown shows (hey, we need to lighten up, brother’s and sisters ain’t staring at each other, don’t judge us), drawing uneccassary animate objects (yeah did you not know there is an opinon in the maliki madhab that what is forbidden is actually 3d figures so there’s scope for difference so we can happily pick and choose what we want)....

Hey this is American/British Islam, not some back homie Arab or Indian Islam.

Step 3 is undergoing normalisation.

Step 4:

Muslims are not going to simply justify and accept zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments out of the blue. We have to build up to it through various academic justifications. The Ummah has to get weaker and weaker, whilst it thinks it is getting stronger and doing good. Just like Barsisa.

And so after the above steps have played out we’ll probably get to this hadith:

“Among my ummah there will certainly be people who permit zinaa, silk, alcohol and musical instruments.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari)

Allah Almighty knows best how many steps there are but:

Step X:

How do you think so many Muslims are going to end up following Dajjal? They will have already been primed and socially engineered to accept him.

The above steps are nothing but Muslims simply being primed to fall into his traps. Otherwise nobody will fall for him because everyone knows not to trust a guy who’s blind in his right eye, has a left eye that looks like a floating grape and claims to be a prophet.

So in short, yeah, the birthday cake, it is vanity manifesting itself. It is the beginning of the end, may Allah almighty keep us firm on his deen and protect us from Dajjal and the system preparing for Dajjal.

One last thing for us all to contemplate on and the far reaching consequences of small matters of step 1 towards misguidance. Warning though, if you’ve already been heavily secularised, you won’t be able to comprehend this:

“one of the Saliheen said: We used to seek ilm in the masaajid, then the schools opened and the barakah left; and the chairs were brought in so humility left; and the certificates were introduced so then the sincerity left.”

I wonder how much has left when a learned person posts a birthday cake on facebook.

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